News

CANNON CONTINUES HIS QUALIFYING STREAK IN JOLIET

Driving the Oakley Funny Car, Scotty Cannon has qualified for each of the 10 events of the 2003 POWERade Drag Racing Series so far, collecting the No. 14 spot today with a 4.860-second pass at 298.60 mph in the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. In today's second round (only one was held on Friday because of rain), he was on a good run until he smoked the tires, posting a 6.348/137.75.
"We had two good runs going," he said. "We burned a piston one round, smoked the tires one run. We're not making excuses. We're not allowed to go out there and back this thing down and try to get into this field. We've had orders from headquarters to go out there and run it as hard as we can run it every run. And that's what we're doing. Is it the right way of doing it? We'll see at the end of the year. It's not the way everybody does it, but that's the way some of them do it. We'll see what happens.
"(Oakley's Mad Scientist) Jim Jannard wants us to run it hard as we're running it until we learn how to run it hard and fast. And if we don't then we won't."
Cannon has advanced to the second round once this year, and qualified his best of the season, No. 4, in Topeka last week. In final eliminations tomorrow, he will face Gary Densham in the first round.